A spokesman for the governing body of world motor sport, FIA, said yesterday that the gap in the fence through which a tyre flew and killed a marshal in the Australian Grand Prix was necessary to allow quick access to the track in cases such as fire.

A spokesman for the governing body of world motor sport, FIA, said yesterday that the gap in the fence through which a tyre flew and killed a marshal in the Australian Grand Prix was necessary to allow quick access to the track in cases such as fire.

Francesco Longanesi, FIA's director of communications, said: "If you put a fire marshal completely far away from where an accident may happen and he's in the position where his possible intervention would not be quick enough, it is not worth having him there."

Longanesi added: "FIA had already put forward to the World Motorsport Council the proposal from the circuit and safety commission to raise all the fencing at all Formula One world championships by one metre.

"This would not have saved the marshal in this instance because the height of the fencing had nothing to do with it, but it shows how not only car safety but also trackside safety is subject to constant study."